Saint of the Day December 11, 2002
St. Damasus I
To his secretary St. Jerome, Damasus was �an
incomparable person, learned in the Scriptures, a
virgin doctor of the virgin Church, who loved chastity
and heard its praises with pleasure.�
Damasus seldom heard such unrestrained praise.
Internal political struggles, doctrinal heresies,
uneasy relations with his fellow bishops and those of
the Eastern Church marred the peace of his
pontificate.
The son of a Roman priest, possibly of Spanish
extraction, Damasus started as a deacon in his
father�s church, and served as a priest in what later
became the basilica of San Lorenzo in Rome. He served
Pope Liberius (352–366) and followed him into exile.
When Liberius died, Damasus was elected bishop of
Rome; but a minority elected and consecrated another
deacon, Ursinus, as pope. The controversy between
Damasus and the antipope resulted in violent battles
in two basilicas, scandalizing the bishops of Italy.
At the synod Damasus called on the occasion of his
birthday, he asked them to approve his actions. The
bishops� reply was curt: �We assembled for a birthday,
not to condemn a man unheard.� Supporters of the
antipope even managed to get Damasus accused of a
grave crime�probably sexual�as late as A.D. 378. He
had to clear himself before both a civil court and a
Church synod.
As pope his lifestyle was simple in contrast to other
ecclesiastics of Rome, and he was fierce in his
denunciation of Arianism and other heresies. A
misunderstanding of the Trinitarian terminology used
by Rome threatened amicable relations with the Eastern
Church, and Damasus was only moderately successful in
dealing with the situation.
During his pontificate Christianity was declared the
official religion of the Roman state (380), and Latin
became the principal liturgical language as part of
the pope�s reforms. His encouragement of St. Jerome�s
biblical studies led to the Vulgate, the Latin
translation of Scripture which the Council of Trent
(12 centuries later) declared to be �authentic in
public readings, disputations, preachings.�
love n prayers,
Joseachayan / Jeddah
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